


I Never Should’ve Left You

by hisluckylady



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Loss, Post-Season 2, Sleep Deprivation, can be viewed platonically or romantically, catra is dead, catradora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 20:48:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19894117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hisluckylady/pseuds/hisluckylady
Summary: After hearing news of Catra’s death, denial overcomes Adora when she begins to see the image of her dead best friend.[Post-Season 2]





	I Never Should’ve Left You

“What would you like me to do with the body, my lord?”

Lord Hordak glanced at the limp being curled up on the floor, lifeless and insignificant. “Dispose of the body outside of the Fright Zone. I don’t want that insolent creature anywhere near what she has betrayed...”

“As you wish.” The Force Captain bowed down to their ruler, then proceeded to pick up the corpse and exit out of the room.

Just outside the walls of the Fright Zone, a princess and her companion were traveling beyond the whispering woods. The sun was just beginning to set, and it will be dark soon, so the two were trying to rush their mission as much as possible.

Glimmer transported herself to the top of a tree to scan out the rest of their journey making sure they’re were no robots or Horde beings.

“Do you see anything up there!?” She heard her friend, Bow, shout to her.

“Shh!” She immediately shushed him, afraid that he might’ve attracted any unwanted guest. So far, the area seemed clear. She teleported back down to the ground right beside the fellow archer. “I didn’t see anyone. I think we can keep going. What’s your tracker saying now?”

“No Ancient Ones tech so far, of Horde tech either. Maybe the signal I got was wrong?”

Glimmer huffed as she trudged further along frustratingly crossing her arms over her chest. “If we don’t find any soon, I’ll never hear the end of it from my mother!” She deepened her voice a bit and began to speak in a classy manner, “‘What did I tell you, Glimma’? You and your foolish antics needs to end now!’” When she finished, she let out grunt and shook her head. “I need to at least have _something_ to report back to her!”

Not even a minute later, they heard rustling in the distance. Growing alarmed, Glimmer grabbed Bow’s hand and teleported them out of the strangers path. They hid behind a bush watching from afar.

“I thought you said the area was clear!” Bow whispered.

“Shh!” Glimmer glanced at him briefly with her finger raised to her mouth. She then looked ahead to see who was there.

Out came a Horde soldier carrying a rather large package, wrapped in a brown sheet. He glanced around his surroundings before dumping the package off the side of the path, deep within a bush, before leaving the area and turning back around towards the Fright Zone. After the coast was clear, Glimmer ran out of their hiding spot towards the package followed by Bow. She dragged the large object out from under the bush gleefully. “Ha! It must be some old tech they’re throwing out! Quick, Bow, scan it!”

Bow stepped forward and used his tablet to scan the package. He looked down seeming confused. “No tech... nothing important. Whatever is in there appears to be cold...”

Glimmer wasted no time in finding out what was inside. She unwrapped the package from its brown cloth, careful not to harm anything inside. She uncovered something horrifying instead. Her head quickly turned the other away in fright after unveiling what was hidden. “Bow... is she...”

“Dead.” Bow finished for her unable to peel his eyes away from the corpse. “She’s dead...”

Her flesh was a pale color of tan, and her eyes were wide open and lifeless. Glimmer stood to her feet and stepped away from the body. “That’s... I mean, that’s a good thing right? She’s dead now! That means one less person to worry about...”

“Glimmer...” Bow turned to his best friend, looking sorrowful. “No ones death should ever be a good thing... not even hers.”

The young princess turned her head to glance upon the corpse only a few feet away from her. Her eyes filled with sadness realizing what was next to come. “So... who’s going to tell Adora?”

Just outside of the castle, Adora was in full She-Ra form, practicing her abilities and trying to gain more control over her alter form. With her sword in hand, she swung in all different directions, aiming at dummy’s she set up using some hay — thanks to Swift Wind — as well as changing her sword into the many things it can transform into. She almost had the hang of it, and it was definitely better than how she started out from the beginning. After defeating her last remaining target, she dramatically wiped her brow out of exhaustion. Just behind her she could hear Swift Wind cheering for her gleefully.

“Woohoo! Way to go, She-Ra! You showed those enemies who’s boss!”

“Ha ha, no need to thank me fellow civilian!” She-Ra took the praise to heart, stroking her hair back and posing with her sword pridefully. “I’m just doing what I do best! Saving Etheria, and keeping fellow Etherians safe from harm!”

The two went into fits of laughter together just before She-Ra de-transformed back into Adora. She swung her sword on her shoulder and walked over to her horse, gently petting his mane.

“I think that’s enough training for today... time to hit the hay!” Adora grinned. “Hehe, see what I did there? _hit_ the _hay,_ because I literally just finished... hitting... the hay...” Her speech and amusement came to an end when she saw Swift Wind’s unamused face. She laughed awkwardly to herself before quickly saying, “I’ll shut up now.”

The two were just about to retreat to bed just before Glimmer and Bow appeared out from the forest. Adora looked at them and smiled brightly. “Hey, you guys are back! Did you two find anything?”

Bow and Glimmer briefly glanced at each other for a moment, unsure of how to share the news of what they just found. Glimmer then proceeded to step forward with her eyes looking everything other than straight at Adora. “We have to tell you something... and I want you to sit down and take a breath.” Glimmer guided her friend to a rock sitting nearby, waiting for Adora to seat herself. Adora was questionable about what the news was, but she didn’t think anything bad of it.

“Adora...” Bow spoke her name heavily as his mind tried searching for the right words to say to her. “We — uh, well... Catra —“

“Catra? Did you guys come into contact with her?” Adora now became concerned. She felt her grip growing tighter on the handle of her sword. “Did she do something to you two?”

“Catra is dead, Adora.” Glimmer finally blurted out.

The words lingered in the air for a moment. It was as if they were slowly traveling to Adora’s ear, and she slowly began to process the meaning. Her eyes remained on the floor trying to make sense of what they meant. _Dead?_

“What do you mean... she’s _dead?_ ” Adora asked with her eyes remaining on the grass. She pretended to seem more interested in it than the concerned looks on her friends faces.

“We found her body... out in the woods.” Bow crossed his arms uncomfortably when the image of her body appeared in his head.

“A Horde soldier dumped her body on the side of the path we were walking on...” The princess finished for her friend. _What did the Horde do to her?_ Adora frowned at the question she asked herself.

“Do you think the Horde must’ve done something to her?” Swift Wind asked for Adora who seemed to know what she was thinking.

Adora tried not to make a face — any sort of expression that showed hurt and pain. Her face remained neutral, emotionless, and unresponsive. Her grip on her sword caused her knuckles to turn pale white, and she didn’t even notice her hand was shaking. It was like she was pushing all her emotions down, forcing them to never reach the surface.

She remained still until she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder with a voice following, “Are you okay, Adora?”

Almost immediately after feeling Glimmers touch, Adora flinched away and got to her feet quickly. “Yeah!” She noticed her higher was higher than usually. She cleared her throat and nodded, “Yea.” _Too deep,_ she thought to herself. “I’m just _really_ tired after a long day of training! I’ll catch you guys tomorrow during the meeting! Night!” Adora turned on her heel and left the area as quickly as she could leaving Swift Wind with Bow and Glimmer.

“Did anyone else catch her odd behavior?” Glimmer questioned with worry.

“Well, yea! Wasn’t she making it obvious?” Swift Wind looked down to the two of them, but his question was only followed with silence.

The next morning, the princesses got together to discuss their next plan of attack against the Horde. Everyone attended the meeting — Glimmer, Bow, Mermista, Perfuma, Frosta, etc. There was only one missing chair out of everyone.

Bow leaned over to Glimmer and whispered to her rather loudly. “Where is Adora?” He asked her.

Before Glimmer could answer, her mother cut her off. “Glimmer, care to share where Adora might be?”

“Well... uh, you see Mother, she —“ Before Glimmer could finish, the doors of the conference room burst open. Everyone’s attention turned to the ex-Horde soldier walking — or more like dragging herself — into the room. She walked through the silence that followed from her entrance and sat down beside Glimmer. It was pretty clear that she didn’t get any sleep last night judging by the black bags hanging below her eyes.

“Woah, where did you drag yourself out of? A grave?” Adora heard Mermista’s small remark.

“Mermista! You don’t just say things like that!” Perfuma exclaimed.

“Adora, are you okay?” Glimmer whispered to Adora, but she didn’t answer. Instead she stood up in front of everyone and looked towards the Queen. “I would like to apologize for my late entry, Queen Angella. I promise you it won’t happen again.” She stated sternly and tried to keep her focus on the eyes of the Queen.

“It’s okay, Adora. You can sit drown now.”

She seated herself back down in her chair and shut down completely.

“Glimmer,” Queen Angella turned to her young daughter, “report what you found yesterday.”

The young princess hesitantly rose to her feet. She glanced back down at Adora who payed no attention to her motion. Glimmer cleared her throat and turned to the table. “When me and Bow were out looking for more First Ones and Horde tech, we...” She paused thinking on how to word what she was about to say. “We came across... a Horde soldier.”

“Glimmer —“

“And a dead Horde Force Captain. The Horde soldiers fled before we could catch them. But they left the body behind.” Glimmer finished reporting and sat back down in her seat shifting uncomfortably. Adora didn’t seem to react in anyway.

“Who was the dead one?” Frosta asked curiously. Glimmer turned her head away from Adora and looked towards the rest of the princesses. “Catra.”

“As in the mean, scary looking cat person?” Perfuma asked.

“Yes... her.”

“What happened to her?”

Glimmer and Bow both looked at each other. They didn’t even notice Adora’s right hand was beginning to tremble. Her head was hung low, and her eyes were shielded from everyone else.

“We don’t know.” Bow answered. “We just found her... There didn’t seem to be any wounds or anything.”

“Well, I say this is a win for us!” Frosta cheered gleefully. She stretched back in her chair and placed her hands behind her back.

“Same. I mean, the Horde is down one of their best defenders.” Mermista added. “With someone as evil and cruel as Catra out of the way, we got a better chance at overpowering the Horde —“ She fell silent when the sound of someone’s hand slammed down on to the table. Everyone turned to Adora who’s fist was on the table, leaving a dent in it.

“Don’t say that.” Adora mumbled. Her hands continued to appear to be shaking violently. Her breathing was growing raspy and thin like she had been silently crying. “Don’t say that...” She said louder and angrier. “You didn’t know her! You have no right! She wasn’t cruel or evil, she was a good person! She was good person —“

“Okay, Adora! Okay!” Glimmer raised her arms to wrap them around Adora, but she didn’t give her the chance to. “No!” The blonde rose from her seat, running her fingers through her loose patch of hair on the top of her hair. She straightened out her jacket and wiped the snot away from her nose. “Um... I’m sorry.” She laughed to herself. “I don’t know where that came from. I’m just going to... be in my room.” She fled from the conference room before anyone can protest or try to stop her.

Adora reached her room seeking for air to fill her lungs, but she continued to feel like she was suffocating. She removed her jacket and even clawed at her neck, feeling the ghostly feeling of someone strangling her. “Ack!” She squeaked out a noise, trying to cry out for someone to help her but no words came out from her mouth. She stumbled over to her vanity, crashing into it and knocking over the many items she had on top of it. She managed to straighten herself up with the support of the table. After a minute of regaining her composure, she managed to get her breathing under control. She heaved heavily, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth carefully. “Okay... It’s okay... Only a panic attack.”

She didn’t even get a few seconds of peace and quiet. A voice chimed in through the silence of the room.

“Hey Adora.”

The familiarity of the voice caught her off guard. She lifted her head up to catch a figure in the mirror standing close behind her. It was Catra — unharmed and alive. She quickly turned around to see the person face to face, but they finished with no trace. She stepped forward and looked around. “Catra? Catra!” She cried out her friends name, believing they were here. 

“I’m here, Adora.” The ghostly voice spoke again. Adora turned her head again to the sound of the voice. “Where!? Where are you!?”

“You have to help me, Adora.” The voice simply said. “The Horde... they’re after me. You have to save me.”

“I will! Where do I go? Where are you?” She cried out into the open air, unknowing that she was just talking to herself.

“I’m hiding in the whispering woods. Hurry Adora! Please!”

Adora ran over to the window and held up her sword. “For the honor of grayskull!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, feeling herself being engulfed in a gold light. In a matter of seconds, she was taller and buffer. She-Ra had come to the rescue. She stood on the edge of her window and placed her two fingers in her mouth, whistling out to her noble steed. Swift Wind looked up from below, and quickly flew up into the air and right beside Shera. “Where to, Princess?”

“Whispering woods! Glimmer and Bow lied, Catra is alive! We have to go save her!” She-Ra said enthusiastically as she hopped onto his back, clinging on to him. Swift Wind caught a glance of her face, seeing the bags under her eyes.

“Ayay, captain!” He spoke hesitantly before flying away from the castle. Minutes after She-Ra left, Glimmer walked into her room to check in on Adora with Bow following behind her. “Adora? Are you okay?” When she walked in, she noticed that the room was completely empty. Her eyes scanned the room for a bit before she noticed that the window was wide open. The two ran over to it and looked ahead, spotting She-Ra’s familiar golden blonde hair.

“Adora!” Glimmer cried out, but it was no use. She grabbed Bow’s hand and the two teleported on to the ground below. “C’mon, Bow! We have to catch up to her before she gets herself into trouble!” The two ran ahead while keeping their eyes on the sky.

She-Ra was high in the sky, flying straight ahead towards the Horde. She didn’t know where she was going, but she kept above the whispering woods. “Adora! I see you!” She heard Catra’s voice again, and she pulled back on Swift Wind’s mane stopping him in mid-air. “Where, Catra?”

“Adora, who are you talking to?” Swift Wind asked, but she paid no attention to him.

“Down here! Below you!”

“I’m coming, hang on!” She-Ra commanded Swift Wind to dive directly below into the Whispering Woods. They landed a few yards away from a dark cave hiding behind a few trees. “I’m in here, Adora!” She-Ra heard her voice coming from the cave in front of her. She unsheathed her sword from behind her and ran straight ahead without thinking. “I’m here!” She cried out. Swift Wind tried to chase after her, but the trees closed in on them making him unable to pass through. “Wait, Adora!” He called out to her, but she had disappeared into the darkness.

She-Ra carefully crept forward with her sword lighting the way for her. The cave felt humid, and each step she took caused an echo to sound through. She was stepping on a rocky ground that was unbalanced and sharp. She looked around trying to spot her familiar feline friend with the help of the light that radiates from her weapon. Eventually, the light glowed on someone revealing Catra’s smiling face. She looked happy, almost relieved that Adora had found her. “You found me...”

She-Ra’s face lit up with joy. She lowered her sword and away from Catra. “Oh, Catra! I’m so glad you’re alive!”

“Oh, please! The Horde can’t get rid of me that easily!” She grinned, it was the same grin she used to give her back in the Fright Zone. She-Ra was about to go in to hug her, until a flash of light appeared close from behind her. She turned around and found Glimmer and Bow armed and ready to attack. Glimmer’s hands glowed and shined, while Bow had his bow and arrow aimed at Catra. She-Ra aimed her sword at the two of them defensively in front of Catra.

“Adora! Get away from her!” Glimmer shouted, glancing between her and Catra.

“You guys lied to me...” She-Ra frowned at the two of them. “You two said she was dead.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Adora.” She-Ra turned to Catra, who seemed hurt and concerned. “We can be together now... Don’t let them tear us apart.”

“Don’t listen to her! We’re your friends!” Glimmer cried out trying to break through the wall She-Ra had just already finished building between the four of them. The taller heroine turned to her “friends” with a wicked look on her face, the grip on her sword growing tighter. She glared at the two with a snarl on her lip.

“I can’t trust you guys anymore. Catra is my _true_ friend... I won’t let you guys hurt her!” She-Ra stepped forward, her eyes growing dark and twisted. She was ready to attack them in a minute, take the both of them down and finish off what the Horde has been wanting to do from the beginning of their reign. The same craziness that Mara had was filling her head. She shouldn’t trust the other princesses — maybe they were lying to her to? Who else had been lying to her? Maybe Mara had a right to go crazy. She no longer wanted to be on anyone’s side. Maybe her and Catra should run away from this place, away from the princesses and the Horde, away from reality and the two can live together... happy.

“Adora, listen to me! Whatever you’re seeing right now, it’s not Catra! You have to listen to me!” Glimmer cried out, but She-Ra didn’t seem to be listening. She only appeared to step closer to the pair, until Bow aimed his arrow back towards Catra, pulling back and letting go. She-Ra’s gaze shifted to the flying arrow trying to reach out and stop it. “No!” She cried out.

The arrow hit Catra’s arm — only it wasn’t Catra anymore. The mirage faded and there stood Shadow Weaver, wounded and weak. She was taking up all of her power to create the mirage of Catra.

“Shadow Weaver...?” She-Ra’s voice broke. They were right. Catra wasn’t alive... it was all a sick joke.

“You fools!” Shadow Weaver glared at all of them. “I almost had it! I almost had _her!_ ”

“We won’t ever let you have Adora!” Bow exclaimed, drawing another arrow and aiming it at her.

 _She was never real,_ She-Ra frowned. _She’s still dead..._

She-Ra’s anger shifted over to the witch. Her eyes flared with hurt and anger over the stunt that was just pulled. She stood defensively in front of her friends and charged straight towards Shadow Weaver. Before She-Ra can strike down on her, she disappeared in a second. Her sword came into contact with the rocky wall behind her. In pure hatred, she slashed at the wall angrily since it was all she could do. Shadow Weaver played her once again, and Catra was still dead. She let out all that she needed to at the wall, slashing at it like it was Shadow Weaver.

With each strike, a memory returned to her. It came in flashes, but it lingered linger in her heart. Her loss left a permanent scar in her soul like a dagger does when penetrating skin. Strike one — Adora and Catra were playing hide and seek in the fright zone. The small blonde was looking for her feline friend, and eventually, she caught her hiding behind a bunch of cargo boxes. “I found you!” Little Adora grinned gleefully.

Strike two — Catra was crying from a bruise she got on her knee, and Adora was kissing her wound better. She then proceeded to hug her friend until the tears stopped. They sat like that for awhile.

Strike three — the two were cuddling in their bed, laughing at what the other said. She remembers her tail wrapping around her waist and blushing like the teenager she was.

So many memories flooding in her head as the tears ran down her red cheeks. The pain in her heart was as real as the friendship they shared — and that’s when she began to regret _everything._ From the moment she found the sword up to their last encounter together. If only she were there to protect her. She wouldn’t be dead if Adora had been there. The guilt was eating away at her heart, and it hurt so much she cried out from the exhilarating pain from deep within the pit of her chest. The slashing came to an end when she lost all her strength and her sleep deprivation was catching up to her.

She was consumed by the golden light once more, and she was back to her normal self. Adora cried on the rocky ground unable to pick herself back up. She felt a gentle hand being placed on the small of her back, and she recognized the feeling. She turned to the young princess with so much guilt and pain presented in her silver eyes. “I’m — I’m so sorry, Glimmer!” She sobbed, and Glimmer immediately pulled Adora into a hug.

“It wasn’t your fault, Adora...” Glimmer spoke sadly. Bow embraced the both of them trying to be as supportive as he could.

_It wasn’t your fault._


End file.
